Top pairings
The best wine - and other - pairings for leeks
Leeks generally feature in dishes in their own right rather than as a side and have a mild sweet flavour you want to respect - unlike fellow alliums onions.
If you’re wondering what wine to pair with leeks you’re more likely to go for a white rather than a red though if there’s meat like lamb in a dish a light red like red burgundy would work well.
Apple flavoured drinks generally pair well with leeks too so obviously cider but apple juice too or kombucha if you’re a non-drinker.
Here are my favourite pairings:
* Smooth dry white wines such as Chenin Blanc and unoaked or subtle oaked Chardonnay or Italian whites such as Gavi or Soave work with dishes that have a creamy texture or a light cheese sauce or leek dishes with eggs like a leek and cheese quiche.
They’re also the type of wine I’d pick for a vichyssoise (leek and potato soup) or if I was serving leeks with salmon.
* Crisper whites such as Chablis, Albarino, Vermentino and citrussy Sauvignon Blancs are good with other fish dishes or where the leeks are served in a salad such as leeks vinaigrette. I wouldn’t pick a more grassy, gooseberryish style of Sauvignon like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which tends to overpower leeks’ delicate flavour
* An afterthought, following the comment below. Alsace Sylvaner - always good with light vegetable dishes. Or a fruity but not oversweet riesling.
A dry to medium dry cider or perry generally matches most leek dishes as do most apple-flavoured drinks.
I’m not a big fan of red wine with leeks - neither the red fruits or tannin seem to work with their delicate oniony flavour but if you were serving them in a lamb stew I’d probably go for a basic red burgundy or other inexpensive pinot noir.
Incidentally if you’re a leek fan there are some pretty inventive recipes on this British Leeks website I stumbled across on Google or try this totally delicious Caerphilly and Leek Toastie from my friends at Trethowans Brothers.
Image ©Imagin at Adobe Stock
The best food and wine pairings for Valentine’s Day
If you’re planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day you may be wondering which wine to pair with your menu. I’ve picked some favourite Valentine’s Day foods and suggested some matches that should work well with them.
Asparagus
If served on its own with melted butter or a hollandaise sauce a subtle, creamy white burgundy or chardonnay would be the most seductive choice. If dressed with a vinaigrette or in a salad with seafood I’d go for a crisper white like a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or other top quality sauvignon blanc.
Camembert
Camembert baked in its box makes a sexy instant fondue but isn’t the easiest of dishes to pair with wine (even trickier than when it’s served cold). Funnily enough a glass of champagne - or similar style sparkling wine - works surprisingly well or go for a dry white like a Chablis.
Caviar (or, more likely, a caviar imitation)
Dry champagne. (Vodka is arguably better but not as romantic.)
Chocolate (dark)
There are possibilities with wine (sweet reds like Maury or Quady’s seductive Elysium being good choices - see
www.quadywinery.com) but my own preferred option with dark chocolate is a frozen shot of cherry brandy or other fruit-flavoured spirit or liqueur or a small glass of sloe or damson gin. An orange-flavoured liqueur like Grand Marnier also works well.
Chocolate (white)
An ice-cold raspberry-flavoured wine or liqueur like Southbrook Winery’s Framboise from Canada. Especially if the dessert includes raspberries.
Duck
Pinot Noir. Look to New Zealand and Chile for the best value
Ice cream (vanilla)
Tricky with wine. A toffee or chocolate-flavoured liqueur is your best bet. Very sweet PX sherry can be wonderful poured over it.
Ice cream (chocolate)
Try a coffee-flavoured liqueur like Toussaint or Kahlua.
Lobster
Good white burgundy (or other chardonnay) or vintage champagne.
Wine with lobster: 5 of the best pairings
Oysters
Champagne or Chablis. Not Guinness on Valentine’s Night, I suggest.
Passion fruit
Can be quite sharp so you need a very sweet wine to balance it. A sweet riesling or late harvest semillon or sauvignon blanc will work well. If it’s mixed with a creamy base as in a passion fruit brulée you could drink a sweet (demi-sec) Champagne or other dessert wine. Or a passion fruit flavoured beer. (Yes, such drinks exist! Try Floris from Belgium.)
Prawns/shrimp
If you’re serving a classic prawn cocktail I suggest a dry or off-dry riesling which would also work with an Asian-style stir-fry or salad. A sparkling rosé - including champagne - would be a suitably kitsch all-pink choice.
The best pairings for prawns or shrimp
Smoked salmon
Champagne on this occasion. But see
Scallops
Made for top white burgundy or other really good chardonnay. Champagne is also spot on if that’s what you’re drinking.
Top wine pairings with scallops
Steak
The best full-bodied red you can afford. Whatever turns your partner on . . .
My 5 top wine and steak pairing tips
Strawberries
If served plain and unadorned, gently sparkling Moscato d’Asti or Asti is lovely or go for the luscious
Fragola liqueur. If they’re served with cream you could serve a classic sweet wine like Sauternes.
My top pairings with strawberries
Image © 9MOT at shutterstock.com
6 of the best wine pairings for spaghetti carbonara
Spaghetti carbonara - spaghetti with a creamy bacon and egg sauce - is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes but what’s the best wine pairing for it?
Remember, as usual with pasta, it’s the sauce you’re matching not the pasta shape so these suggestions would go equally well with fettucine or tagliatelle treated the same way.
Personally I’d go for a white wine rather than a red or rosé - a crisp dry Italian white at that though I’ve suggested a couple of French wines that I think work well too. Choose from one of these.
* Pinot grigio - there’s so much ropey Pinot Grigio around it’s easy to forget its virtues as a crisp, clean, immensely food-friendly white. Look out for ones from the Alto Adige region. Pinot Bianco (aka Pinot Blanc) would be good too
* Gavi di Gavi - another very popular Italian white for those who like a fuller, slightly smoother white
* Soave - same reasoning. Smooth, dry, brilliantly food-friendly.
* Picpoul de Pinet - a crisp white from the Languedoc coast that would work really well too
* Chablis - also works well with creamy sauces, and with ham
* Teroldego - a light Italian red that would rub along well if you fancied a red.
Top wine pairings with scallops
Scallops are some of the most delicious seafood around and some of the most flattering to a serious white wine.
They’re also incredibly quick and easy to cook which makes them a great choice for a romantic dinner for two, especially with a wine lover!
When it comes to pairing wine and scallops there’s one grape variety that will almost always see you right but in this brief guide I’ve given some other options depending on the other ingredients in the dish.
Grilled or seared scallops
Searing scallops enhances their sweetness and makes them a sure-fire match with chardonnay.
Almost any kind especially white burgundy - it’s a great way to show off an older vintage. Old vine chenin blanc is also a good match.
Champagne, especially a blanc de blancs, is not too shabby either.
The best food pairings with white burgundy
Scallops with pea purée or pea shoots
Bring peas - or asparagus into the equation and I’d probably go for a sauvignon or sauvignon-semillon blend such as you find in Bordeaux or Western Australia. Albarino is also a good match
Coquilles Saint Jacques or other scallop dishes with a creamy sauce
Back to chardonnay again for this classic dish. Especially Chablis
Scallops served with Asian-style dressing
Give scallops an Asian twist as in this recipe and I’d reach for a dry or off-dry riesling
Scallop and crab or lobster risotto
Risotto immediately makes a scallop dish richer especially if it also includes crab or lobster. You have a choice: you can go for a matching richness (yup, chardonnay again) or a smooth Italian white like a Gavi or Soave or for a contrast in terms of a wine that will bring a zing of freshness to the dish as I did here.
Scallops with pancetta or chorizo
Sometimes scallops are given more robust treatment and partnered with bacon, pancetta, chorizo or even black pudding. In that case you can drink a light red like a pinot noir or a Beaujolais. Lightly chilled, I suggest.
For other insights see this account of Rye Bay Scallop Week
Image © Oran Tantapakul at fotolia.com
The best wine pairings with chicken Kyiv
Chicken Kyiv - or Kiev - as it used to be known - is a much loved version of fried chicken that you can also easily buy off the supermarket shelf but what sort of wine should you pair with it?
If you’re not familiar with the dish it’s a deep fried chicken breast stuffed with garlic butter so it’s more about the garlic than the chicken.
That pushes me towards a white wine or sparkling wine rather than a red. Here’s what I’d choose
A crisp dry white wine like a Chablis, aligoté, albarino or Picpoul de Pinet, even a pinot grigio (preferably one from the Trentino region of north-east Italy)
Sauvignon blanc, especially from the Loire e.g. Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé
A dry champagne or champagne-style sparkling wine, especially a blanc de blancs (100% chardonnay or other white grapes). Sparkling wine is always great with deep fried food.
If you fancy a red wine with chicken kyiv I’d be inclined to go for a Beaujolais or other gamay or an inexpensive red burgundy
A light lager or pils
Top image by Alexander Prokopenko at shutterstock.com
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